


"Don't."

by queenofthelot



Series: Star Wars College!AU [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, College!AU, F/M, Minor Violence, drug mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-25 21:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6209977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofthelot/pseuds/queenofthelot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leia has a surprise run-in with her father, revealing she and Han have more in common than they thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Don't."

She lifts a hand. To slap or to punch him, she isn’t even sure. Because his hand grabs her wrist, tightly, within a few centimeters of his cheek. Tears are welling up in his eyes as he whispers, “Don’t”.  
Leia turns her head away, unable to look at him; not wanting to see him as someone who cares about her or her brother or anyone else. It’s easier to see it in black and white; There is no good left in him. That’s what she tells herself when she thinks about him, unable to even call him her own father. Not after what he has done to her and to others. He doesn’t deserve her or Ben or Luke or anything they’ve made of themselves since whenever he last walked out of their lives. To see him as someone who is hurt was to ignore all of the hurt he had caused.  
She can’t even feel his grip on her arm anymore, it’s so tight there will probably be a black and blue mark the next morning.  
Suddenly he lets go, stepping back away from her. Han steps in front of her, arm out defensively.   
All she can see is the back of his head and his neck, which is pink going on bright red. She doesn’t have time to process what he’s doing before she hears the unfamiliar sound of knuckles colliding with jaw. Hands are on her again, nearly lifting her up off the ground and pulling her back away.  
“I don’t know who you are, but you better get the hell out of my sight in the next five seconds. Or I’m calling the campus cops.”  
She swallows, partly wishing she could disappear, partly wishing she had been the one to throw the punch.  
She hears a laugh that sounds like a distant memory from a birthday party when she turned three and her mother had made a cake that was split in color: pink and blue. But her side was blue and her brother’s pink. A princess and pirate party. Her mother’s fingers combing her hair out of her face as she blew out all of the candles, both hers and her brothers.  
She gets next to him just as her father sticks his hands up and pulls out his phone, menacingly glaring at the strange man.  
He puts his hands up, a white flag. “Fine, I’ll leave. But know this, Han Solo, you’re getting into something that’s deeper than you think. I’ve heard about you, making a name for yourself. All I have to say, It’s not all cool guns and easy money,”  
She can feel him stiffen next to her, slowly putting his hand back in his pocket, defeated.  
Her father turns and begins walking away, laughing to himself.  
Han grabs her, turning her the other way and walking hurriedly back out of the west quad.  
“Do you want to explain to me who the hell that was?”  
No answer.  
“Leia?”  
“Do you want to explain to me what he was talking about to you? Is this why you came to room that night with your face messed up? Are you involved in his- in his business?”  
“You wouldn’t understand” his voice is softer now, hurt.  
“I wouldn’t understand? That was my father, Han”  
“You- what?”  
She shakes her head.  
“Just, forget about it.”  
“Let me see your wrist”  
“No!”  
“Let me see it!”  
“You can’t make it any better!” She instinctively reaches her other hand to the spot, rubbing the tender skin with the broken blood vessels underneath.  
“Fine” He throws his hands up too. “You’re right.”  
“Thank you” She replies sternly, letting go of her own wrist. “Please don’t tell him”  
“Tell who? Chewie?”  
“Luke, you idiot”  
It takes him a moment. “Leia, I have to. You’re his sister. That’s his dad too. He doesn’t… see him like you do.”  
“That might be so, but it would break his heart.”  
“You don’t give him enough credit.”  
“Then you can tell him the one person I probably abhor over anyone else on this planet came to me and not to him.”  
“This whole thing might have been one big… coincidence or something”  
She shakes her head again. “He plays games, Han. It’s always been one big game to him. He’s trying to intimidate us or something.”  
“And?”  
“And what?”  
“Is it working? Because he sure scared me,”  
“I have to call my uncle. He can probably figure something out.” She paused, and then, angrily, “You’re ignoring my question.”  
Han forces a grin as if he has no idea what she’s talking about “What question?” But she can hear the slight shakiness of his voice.   
“Han,” Leia says, resisting the urge to glare at him. “What actually happened that night?”  
“What night?”  
She rolls her eyes, “Fine.” Leia pushes ahead of him, walking more quickly. “I’ll talk to you later or something”   
“Wait! Hey!” He catches back up to her, trying to keep up with her pace. “I’ll talk, I’ll tell you whatever you want.”  
Leia stops, looking up to meet his eyes, “What’s the catch?”   
He looks down at her. Her face is slightly pink and her eyes are watery. The green army jacket she wears most days is now terribly wrinkled around her right wrist.   
She notices him looking at it and shoves her hands into her back pockets.   
Han sighs, bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his head while scanning the courtyard they’ve seemingly walked to.   
“You can’t tell anyone, okay? Not Luke, not any of your little friends, not your uncle. It’s staying between us.”  
“Han, whatever it is, you can trust me,” Leia wants to take his free hand away from his side and puts it between her own. “But if you’re in trouble, I-”  
“It’s a special kind of trouble,”  
She catches his eyes, before quickly looking away. Leia bites her lower lip.   
“How bad, Han?”  
“Like… on a scale of ‘I stole a candy bar’ to ‘Al Capone’?”  
She can’t hold back anymore. She glares straight at him.   
He shifts his jaw, looking around one more time to make sure there’s no one who could be listening.   
“It’s smuggling,”  
“Smuggling? Smuggling wh-?”  
“Drugs. Mostly drugs. I think they might be handling other stuff but I’m not involved in it. I just bring the packages where they tell me to, get the money, and go. The gun is just-”  
“You have a gun?” Her eyes widen and her voice rises.   
Han brings a finger to his lips.   
“It’s more for show than anything,” He shrugs, “Y’know, in case anyone gets a little too rowdy,”  
Leia brings a hand up to her face, rubbing at her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. “But-why?”  
Han scoffs, putting his hands on his hips. “Do you think I have a trust fund I dip into to be here? Some of us have to do work, princess. And any work is good work, as far as I’m concerned”  
There’s a pause.   
“A-are you working for him?”  
“Your dad?”  
“Yes! Is that why he said- whatever he said about guns and money to you?” It comes out almost monotone as she tries to keep her voice under control.   
“No! No- I’ve never seen that guy before today. Wait- wait is he-”  
“Involved in… things? Yes” She brings her arms forward, crossing them across her chest defensively, “Or the last time I heard. I don’t hear much from him. Neither does Luke.”   
“Leia, what’s his name?”  
“His name-name or his street name?”  
“Both. Give me something here.” His voice has gone deeper, wondering if there’s something he should be concerned about.  
“A-” Her breathing quickens like she has to physically pull the name out of her. “Anakin Skywalker. Darth Vader was what he was going by before but maybe he’s changed it since I last-” The tears are coming now, slowly, but she’s crying in the courtyard while all of the emotions, good and bad, attached to that name come rushing back to her.   
“Vader.” Han nods understandingly. “I’ve heard of him, but he’s in a different area. Different product, different people. Not much crossover. But I haven’t exactly heard good th- Hey, are you crying?”  
“No,” Leia says defensively, punctuating her statement with a sniffle. She drags her bruised wrist across her face in an attempt to wipe some of the evidence away.   
“He’s really your dad?”  
She nods her head, knowing that using her voice will give away the fact that yes, she is crying.   
“Well, look, I don’t have any business with him, okay?”  
She nods again.   
It’s quiet, only the sounds of birds chirping permeates the air.   
“So it’s because of money?”  
“What?”  
“That you’re involved in that stuff. It’s because of the money? You’re not- a druggie or something?”  
“I’m not allowed to even breath on the product so much as try it out.” He shrugs, “But no, I haven’t met the guy before today.” Han pauses, “If you can call punching someone in the face ‘meeting’ them,”   
Leia reaches out, punching him in the shoulder.   
“Ow! Hey! He was getting a little close to you! And I thought he was some random scarface trying to get up on my girl!” Han immediately reaches up to rub at the spot where she hit him.   
“That was for not letting me be the one to do the honor,” She replies, sticking her nose up. And pretending that she didn’t hear the part where Han called her his girl.   
“Next time, we’ll toss a coin for it,”  
“Or we can follow the old adage, ‘ladies first’”   
Han smirks. “Fine.”  
“Fine!” Leia smiles. “I just hope there isn’t a next time,” She adds, her voice sounding a little distant.   
“Not soon anyways. Your swing could use some work.”  
She brings up her palm, ready to slap this time.   
“Okay, okay! I’ll just… give you a few pointers?”  
Leia lowers her hand and grins. “That’s fair enough. Plus, it would give me the opportunity to kick your ass.”  
Han grins back, finally feeling his energy coming back after their run in with Vader. “Only after I get some food. Then it would be a fair fight.”  
“Would you like some company?”  
“I would be honored, your highness,” Han leans down, in a mock bow.   
Leia rolls her eyes, kicks him lightly in the shin, before getting a running start to where the Falcon is parked. She doesn’t have time to hear exactly what Han says, but it sounded like a string of expletives with her name somewhere in the mix.


End file.
